The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-06-03

VIC oNeAt W ueleuu my cAueh, ~ I
And lay their tribute at thy feet
Before thou doignst 10 aSk IT.
Most generous due 10 prince most sweet;
'Ih fifteen cent, a basEeti
B0B'S LOST BRIDE.
Whom my grandmother's estate wa
divided "befo' the wah," a famous cook
Ailsie, by name, fell To my father
share. But the trouble was that Ailsi,
lived in Virginia and had q husband wht
was no part OF the estate, while my fathe]
lived In M~lsaiHippi. Therefore, as wa.
usual in such cases, my father wrote L
the owner Of the man that he would ueII
Ailsie to him or buy the husband, Just al
he chose. The owner preferred to par
with,the man, and everything seemed set
tied. But nobody was in a hurry In those
days, and 1t must have been six month.
or more before Ailsis got her things to,
gether and prepared to take passage on 9
sailing vessel, which was to leave Rich!
mond for New Orleans.
We are not In the habit OF supposinp
that alavea we're overhurdened with per.
sonal or other property but Ailsie's hus.
band, when the clipper was ready to drop
down the James, had not had time to
gather his belongings. His "chist" was
still unpacked; and his weeping wife set
forth on her long journey alone. He said
he would come by the next vessel. /
wonder II she believed him? l cannot
say, but she stood in need OF all the faith
she could command, for 1t 80 happened at
the time Of her arrival at the plantation
there were half a dozen eligible young
colored fellows on the lookout for wives,
They had expected to see their commu.
nifty added to by q man and his wife. In.
stead, a grass widow dropped among them
from the rosy clouds.
In those simple days professional beau
ties were unknown; nor do l claim that
Ailsie could have ranked as such. But
she was better, far better. She was a cook,
Beauty vanisheth like the flowers of
spring Tune, but solid and i%mperishable
were the charms Of one who presided over
the baronial abundance OF one OF those
old.time kitchens, joints, fat and juicy,
vast turkeys, noble hams-why 70 any
further2
The ardor Of the half dozen was above
all praise; Penelope may have had more,
but not more deyouted suitors.
Small cause have We to eneer at these
ebon benedicts. Do not we also often look
to the loayes and fishes and bid our hearts
be still when evidence is lacking oil a sat.
lsfnctory bank account? What an heiress
Is In society, q cook was on q plantation
eI-oficio, a belle.
Among the laboring classes courting Is,
| believe, carried or chiefly on Sundsys.
Certainly this was the case on the planta.
ton. A p%loughman, dragging his heavy
feet after him at the close Of q day of toll.
ia in no mood for all those little caioleries
and airy nothinga which constitute, I am
told, the art OF loye-making. But ayoung
mans fancy, with q whole day OF idieneas
before him, lightly turns to thoughts of
love on Sundays. Ailsie's kitchen was
c7p'''s hn.9fr rst a4lnna rivals buzzsd
auU1! h.f Ilae 90 M.ayOttS their atten.
uuLs neIu Lut BIZ uIucn delicate as praQti.
teal. II she needed a pail Of water two
or three OF the enamoured bumped TO.
gether in the doorway, making Tor the
pump II Goals we're needed %conteudinp
hands reached for the shovel; baskets Of
chips from the wood pile numbered the
foor, while sho sat enthroned, giving her
orders with all the ornate repose of a
French chef. Even the poor scullion felt
that her Office WAS q sinecure.
We're this an analytical romance I
could, in lees than two columns, explain
how, and by what subtle process OF mind.
Ailels's tears were the laat dried, how, by
constrastine the cold neglect of her hus-
band, In suffering her to come all alone to
a distant and strange land, with the un.
firing civilitiea Of her new found friends
but enough. Let US come to facts.
Hardly had Ailsie shaken of the dust Of
travel, when she wrote to her absent Inns.
band assuring him that all was lovely in
her new home. His presence alone was
needed to make it an earthly paradise.
A short month passed and what did she
writer
That ardently as she desired to see him,
she could not, on second thought, advise
him to encounter the horrors OF a sea WOW.
age. She assured him that, in all proba.
ollity, it was worse than anything he had
imagined. Very few, indeed, ever got
through alive. Those who attempted it,
for the most part, paid the penalty Of their
rashness by filling the insatiste mays of
sharks and whales and other marine
"varmints; !" the few who escaped being 90
shattered in mind and body that life seem.
ed to them barely worth living.
Inconsistency thy name is-but wait.
Myaunt, living in Richmond, conducted
the negotiations between theae severed
lovers. Hearing that another vessel was
TO sail shortly for New Orleans, she sent
for MIR. Ailsie and made known to him the
glad tidings. She was panied to observe
niB self.control. He sang no ptean OF ioy:
on the contrary, he drew from bis pocket
the soiled and rumpled letter OF his BOZ.
rowing spouse. >
1t WAS IN vain that my aunt showed him
the absurdity Of bis wiie's picture OF the
danger and hardships Of a sea voyage. To
everything that she could urge he but
shook his head, adding, again and again,
this melancholy refrain:
"Aialie done been, miatiss, and ! reckon
she understands dem mys'tries bet.er'n
you an mel"
Peridious male! I bow my head in
shame for my sex when I add that he had
already married another woman!
Alter all, did they not manage the thing
discreetly ? No scandal, NO recriminations;
altogether a high.liie Affair. She, in tears,
warned him OF the fearful dangers oil the
Vastly deep; he, with bowed head, was
warned.
sand moved his "chist,"
Let Us leave him to bis remouo.
It was a hot afternoon in summer. One
Of those long glazing Sunday afternoons,
tho first hall OF which We get rid OF by a
nap, that in wishing we hadn't.
The suitors were ont In full force, adorn.
ed In their best, but not at all inspired
with equal hopes. Something akin to
despair had begun to uettle down upon
the spirits Of all save one among their
number. Around that n the scattered
and distracted affections Of tho bereayed
one had, obviously to all, begun to cluster
and settle like q swarm Of bees upon q
fragrant peach tree branch. Why he wa,